New Prints of Classic Greenwich Village Images Available For First Time
Photos.com proudly announces the addition of the Fred W. McDarrah Collection. His work brings a new and unique selection of images to the collected works of an already world class Photos.com lineup including the legendary works of celebrated photographers Alfred Eisenstadt, Margaret Bourke-White and Ansel Adams.
The Beatles in New York City by Fred W. McDarrah (Image courtesy of Photo.com by Getty Images)
Jimi Hendricks (in concert) by Fred W. McDarrah (Image courtesy of Photo.com by Getty Images)
Coney Island Cyclone Rollercoaster Ride (by Fred W. McDarrah (Image courtesy of Photo.com by Getty Images)
For The Fred McDarrah Collection, the editors at Photos.com have selected more than 200 of McDarrah’s most delightful and inspiring images, with an eye towards their ability to work as wall décor. The images shown here (and many others) has been made available to the consumer market for the very first time.
Fred W. McDarrah (November 5, 1926 – November 6, 2007) was the most curious, knowledgeable, and indefatigable chronicler of the New York scene over the second half of the 20th century. He bought his first camera at the 1939 World’s Fair for 39 cents, but he did not start taking photographs as a vocation until he was a paratrooper in occupied Japan following World War II.
He rose to prominence during his 50-year association with the Village Voice newspaper, the house organ of the post-war counterculture. The New York Times has described McDarrah as the “Bachrach of New York’s Bohemia.” I would go even farther and say that he was the “Zelig” of the New York cultural scene at the time. If it happened anywhere in New York City, he was there with his camera memorializing the event.
Untitled Image by Fred W. McDarrah (Image courtesy of Photo.com by Getty Images)
Subway Car, 1977: Interior view of a graffiti-covered subway car, New York, New York, February 25, 1977. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)
”Let There Be Neon’: Interior view of ‘Let There Be Neon’ (451 West Broadway), New York, New York, September 28, 1972. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)
He photographed the artists, writers, musicians, and actors who frequented the bars, theaters, galleries, and cafes in Greenwich Village. He documented political rallies, museum openings, breaking news, feminism, experimental theater, the rock and folk music scenes, dance, and the civil rights and anti-war movements. In a style simple and direct, McDarrah created street and studio portraits of luminaries, politicians and celebrities that were often definitive and iconic. He was one of the first to photograph Bob Dylan. He photographed people at the time of the Stonewall Riots.
Rolling Stones On Fifth Avenue: View, from below, British musician Mick Jagger of the rock band the Rolling Stones, New York, New York, May 1, 1975. The band announced their ‘Tour of the Americas ’75’ with a performance on a flatbed truck on 5th Avenue. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)
Andy Warhol by Fred W. MacDarrah (Image courtesy of Photo.com by Getty Images)
Untitled Image by Fred W. McDarrah (Image courtesy of Photo.com by Getty Images)
But his favorite subject may have been his beloved New York City; often roaming the city on his bicycle, he documented the streets, buildings, landmarks, parks, beaches, pushcarts, subways, architecture, landscapes, churches, signs, cobblestones, storefronts and rooftops.
In his book The Artist’s World in Pictures, co-authored with Thomas B. Hess, McDarrah documented the New York art world, the New York School and the world of Abstract expressionism in New York City during the late 1950s.
His other books include The Beat Scene (Corinth Books, 1960); The Greenwich Village Guide: Sixteen Historic Walks, Includes Soho, Tribeca, and the East Village: Antique Shops, Bookstores, Theatres, Clubs, Restaurants, Art Galleries and More. (Fred W. McDarrah, and Patrick J. McDarrah, Chicago, IL: Chicago Review, 1992); Gay Pride: Photographs from Stonewall to Today. Fred W. McDarrah, Timothy S. McDarrah, and Robert Taylor, Chicago, IL: Cappella, 1994); Kerouac and Friends: A Beat Generation Album (Fred W. MacDarrah and Timothy S. MacDarrah. New York: Thunder’s Mouth, 2002); Anarchy, Protest & Rebellion: And the Counterculture That Changed America (Fred W. McDarrah, Gloria S. McDarrah, and Timothy S. McDarrah, New York: Thunder’s Mouth, 2003), Beat Generation: Glory Days in Greenwich Village (Fred W. McDarrah, and Gloria S. McDarrah, New York: Schirmer, 1996) and Fred A. MacDarrah, Artists and Writers of the 60s and 70s: An Exhibition of Vintage Prints at Steven Kasher Gallery, November 9, 2006-January 6, 2007. New York, NY: Steven Kasher Gallery, 2006.
In 1960, he married Gloria Schoffel; they had two sons, Timothy and Patrick. MaCDarrah died in his sleep at his home in Greenwich Village (he never left) a few hours after his 81st birthday.
McDarrah’s photographs have been exhibited at numerous museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford, Connecticut) and the Centre Georges Pompidou-Paris; and are in private and public collections including the National Portrait Gallery, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the New York Public Library, the Andy Warhol Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Built on Getty Images’ unrivaled archive and exclusive collections from a wide range of world-renowned photographers, Photos.com by Getty Images is a full service printing and framing e-commerce business. Every image is available in four sizes and five framing options: paper, canvas, acrylic, birchwood & aluminum, and arrives at your doorstep framed and ready-to-hang. With more than 250,000 images spanning current events and famous faces to world culture, contemporary concepts and iconic black-and-white photography, there’s something to inspire and complement every interior style.
Photos.com by Getty Images is not affiliated with the J. Paul Getty Trust or its operating programs including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation.
Filed under: Americana, Arts & Culture, Communications/Electronic Media, Culture, Photography Tagged: Alfred Eisenstadt, Ansel Adams, Fred W. McDarrah, Gloria S. McDarrah, Margaret Bourke-White, Patrick J. McDarrah, Photo.com by Getty Images, The Fred McDarrah Collection, Timothy S. McDarrah